Designing a Model Home

 

HG TV's Design Star Winner Antonio Ballatore and his infamous pink birds adored by the judges

 

I am going to give you a blank check with a challenge. Build a new model home. At first, the excitement of the design savvy begins to tingle and warm our creative juices like that first taste of a rich Cabernet, and we start thinking and acting like a design diva. We want to put our “pink birds” a la Antonio Ballatore (for those of you who followed the last season of HG TV’s Design Star), meaning our own signature that says: yeah, I did that. And most importantly, you want it, but you cannot have it. Just yet.

Think exotics. Think colors, textures, delicious open spaces, lounge-style oversized furniture, the most exquisite shower for 12, outdoor living spaces, rich hardwoods, mosaics, rich natural materials, perhaps the latest in technology, a killer loud media room (with sound insulation) on the most beautiful natural surroundings. A lake with fountains to hear the splash of the water as it falls. Beautiful big trees (but not too close in case we have another Ike).

There is a catch. It’s not for you. It is not for someone you know or will meet during design. Actually, it’s not for a specific person, even though you will eventually sell it. It is to represent the homes you intend to build in a community.

What do you do? Our thinking changes completely. We are now not building a home, but a marketing product. Something to help our clients understand what we do, how we do it, and how much it will cost to do it.

As a client, what would you prefer? Let us know.

Read Full Post »